150-Year-Old Shipwreck Identified

(August 27, 2013)--The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday it has confirmed that a shipwreck discovered in 85 feet of water several miles off Atlantic City is the Robert J. Walker, whose crew did mapping work for the U.S. Coast Survey.

The ship was headed to New York in June 1860 when it collided with a 250-ton schooner.

Twenty sailors aboard the Walker died, making it the worst accident in the history of the U.S. Coast Survey or its successor, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The wreckage was discovered in the 1970s, but the identity was a mystery until recently when divers on a Superstorm Sandy-related mission made a positive identification.

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